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This ARTICLE is in today SF Chronicle. I don't smoke marijuana but I do have PN. Some days iit's tolerable; others, it just kills me but I've got a great game face. I just suck it up. But I know there are some here who do prefer the weed and would certainly agree with the results of the study.

SAN FRANCISCO - Smoking marijuana eased HIV-related pain in some patients in a small study that nevertheless represented one of the few rigorous attempts to find out if the drug has medicinal benefits.

The Bush administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy quickly sought to shoot holes in the experiment.

The study, conducted at San Francisco General Hospital from 2003 to 2005 and published Monday in the journal Neurology, involved 50 patients suffering from HIV-related foot pain known as peripheral neuropathy. There are no drugs specifically approved to treat that kind of pain.

Three times daily for nearly a week, the patients smoked marijuana cigarettes machine-rolled at the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the only legal source for the drug recognized by the federal government.

Half the patients received marijuana, while the other 25 received placebo cigarettes that lacked the drug's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol. Scientists said the study was the first one published that used a comparison group, which is generally considered the gold standard for scientific research.

Thirteen patients who received marijuana told doctors their pain eased by at least a third after smoking pot, while only six of those smoking placebos said likewise. The marijuana smokers reported an average pain reduction of 34 percent, double the drop reported by the placebo smokers as measured with a widely accepted pain scale.

"These results provide evidence that there is measurable medical benefit to smoking cannabis for these patients," said Dr. Donald Abrams, the University of California, San Francisco professor who led the study.

Many critics of smoked marijuana agree THC has promise as a painkiller, but they argue the smoke itself is harmful.

"People who smoke marijuana are subject to bacterial infections in the lungs," said David Murray, chief scientist at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Is this really what a physician who is treating someone with a compromised immune system wants to prescribe?"

Murray also questioned the statistical relevance of study with just 50 participants in the test.

Dr. Mark Ware, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal conducting similar tests, defended Abrams' study as sound and statistically reliable.

The study is one of the few human tests in a research field nearly devoid of federal funding.

"This is a valid medicine and I want safe access to my medication," said Diana Dodson, a 50-year-old grandmother of five who participated in the test in 2004.

California and 10 other states have passed laws legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the federal government considers it a dangerous drug, like cocaine or heroin. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that state laws do not protect users from the federal ban.

To conduct the test, Abrams needed authorization from eight academic and government agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The study cost about $1 million and was paid for by the University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, which has sponsored several smoked marijuana tests.

If it works l say light up!!!

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"An adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia.It is the woman wearing it who makes it one thing or the other."

Interesting article. I have been saying blaze up for awhile now. But folks just look at me as the Queen of the Green or like I have no brain cells left. I always felt that when it comes to hiv that weed has helped me immensely. I started smoking way before I was infected. But since being infected, weed has helped me to keep an appetite. It has helped to reduce some pain but I still have to take the Elavil with it to totally knock out the pain.

Maybe this will open up other avenues for legal medicinal weed in other states. At least someone thinks weed can be helpful. You just don't know how sick I am of anti-drug commercials talking about how bad weed is for you. Have the people who come up with the stupid commercials ever hear of crack, cocaine (powder), meth and heroine? Why not make commercials about them, they seem to be doing the most harm. Anyhoo, thanks for the info....

Disclaimer: No one here is recommending the use of illegal substances. Oh No!God forbid we would ease your pain and discomfort.tsk.......tsk........tsk......Sarcasm so early in the morning! Forgive my ugly ways.

Well good morning to ya mm. But you're a little late on this topic, I believe a thread was started on this in Living With. I'm too sleepy to repost my thoughts...There's nothing more refreshing than a cup of sarcasm in the morning....Have a good one....

Wow, this makes the 3rd thread about weed and pain in the feet. Hmm, I wonder what will become of this or will the anti weed naysayers come along and just point the finger to how weed is the downfall of mankind...

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Wow, this makes the 3rd thread about weed and pain in the feet. Hmm, I wonder what will become of this or will the anti weed naysayers come along and just point the finger to how weed is the downfall of mankind...

I don't really think it's so much the weed naysayers as the pharma compaines maniuplating the minds of these people. After all Marinol, produced by Pharma is perfectly legal. "Godmade" pot just can't be regulated. It's much too easy to grow.

The whole issue has a wonderful irony from time to time.

Live in a small place. People know we have HIV. People also know we smoke pot. Cops like to bang on our door and invite themselves in every few years....I guess they get bored going after the real problems, like the meth and crack houses around.

Time before last my husband had to do 15 days for simple possession. He took his meds with him. He really enjoyed pointing out the little round pill to them and telling them that they were giving him the same stuff he was in there for.

It's all about the profit. As long as pharma makes a profit and the government can't figure out how to regulate and tax pot, it's gonna be illegal.

weed illegal and cigs legal,go figure.I guess we didnt learn anything from alcohol prohibition. Government regs create black markets,and crime.Make all drugs legal. We save billions in the war on drugs and we make billions in taxes. Its a win/win.

Like Maestro's uncle, I was taking Marinol to kickstart my appetite for awhile and noticed no change in PN symptoms. Course the Marinol didn't seem to provide the same effects I used to get from mother natures version when I used it either . But it did get the appetite going alright.

Also, I happened to be seeing my ID doc this morning and while we talked about PN, she said there was nothing she could prescribe for the numbness, but if it was painfull, there was something she could prescribe. Since I don't really have any pain, I didn't ask here what she would prescribe, but it sounds like there might be something out there that could help those who do have pain associated with PN.

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And I wished for guidance, and I wished for peaceI could see the lightning; somewhere in the eastAnd I wished for affection, and I wished for calmAs I lay there - Nervous in the light of dawn

Thanks for the article. I also read a similar article this morning from Medscape. Heck, it's been years since I smoked grass.Never did like the stuff. Never did marinol either. I also just deal with the PN, for now. Like yourself, most of the time it is somewhat tolerable, other days can be more intense. Waiting to see what results if any may come from the study I am on. Capsaicin patches to go on early next week.

And you see who posted the most, yours truly. I am now officially "The Queen of Green". Pothead extrodinaire!

mjmel, Don't worry sweetie, I will smoke for you and JeffreyJ, not a problem! I will admit I have burned out a few brain cells I'm sure. But since I have learned that you can get a lil foggy from hiv, I just say I have a selective memory, I remember what I want or need to....

Tucson, I tried Marinol, it did nothing for me. As they say, nothing beats the original. I even had the cops pull me over one time because they smelled weed coming from my car. Blunt in the ashtray, there goes probable cause to search the ride. You know what he did? He took my blunt then insulted me by saying he smoked better. Ugh! I couldn't say what I wanted to or he would've dragged me off to jail....And I sure did not have any get out jail card!

I always felt that when it comes to hiv that weed has helped me immensely. I started smoking way before I was infected. But since being infected, weed has helped me to keep an appetite. It has helped to reduce some pain but I still have to take the Elavil with it to totally knock out the pain.

Maybe this will open up other avenues for legal medicinal weed in other states. At least someone thinks weed can be helpful. You just don't know how sick I am of anti-drug commercials talking about how bad weed is for you. Have the people who come up with the stupid commercials ever hear of crack, cocaine (powder), meth and heroine? Why not make commercials about them, they seem to be doing the most harm. Anyhoo, thanks for the info....

(who appreciates good green)

Word!it really works wonders even when opiates fail me and pain breaks through. ganja to the rescue!

It strikes me as funny that they are so quick to point out any "flaw" in studies supporting the use of marijuana. Have they completely forgotten the ridiculous campains and government funded studies they used to make weed illegal?

By Michael Smith, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. February 14, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 14 -- "In the long run, smoking marijuana has many of the same effects as smoking cigarettes, such as coughing and wheezing, according to researchers here.

Note that this review of research shows some effects of long-term use are similar to those seen in tobacco smokers, including an increased risk of coughing and wheezing. So found a Yale-led team on the basis of a systematic review of 34 studies that evaluated the effect of marijuana smoking on pulmonary function and respiratory complications and bronchodilation, reported Jeanette Tetrault, M.D., and colleagues, in the February issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

"While there is convincing data on the effects of tobacco smoke on pulmonary clinical outcomes, the effect of marijuana smoke has been poorly understood," Dr. Tetrault said.

To attempt to fill the gap, she and colleagues divided eligible studies into three groups -- challenge studies that experimentally examined airway response to marijuana smoke, studies that looked at changes in pulmonary function associated with long-term use, and studies that looked at respiratory complications associated with long-term use. Some studies fell into more than one category.

All of the 14 studies that looked at respiratory complications found an association with long-term marijuana use, Dr. Tetrault and colleagues found. For example, one large cross-sectional study showed that marijuana smoking, compared with controls, was associated with increased odds of:

Cough (with an odds ratio of 2.00 and a 95% confidence interval from 1.32 to 3.01). Phlegm (with an odds ratio of 1.89 and a 95% confidence interval from 1.35 to 2.66). Wheeze (with an odds ratio of 2.98 and a 95% confidence interval from 2.05 to 4.34). All comparisons were significant at P<0.01.

The researchers found 12 studies that used a laboratory challenge design using various measures including specific airway conductance, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) peak flow, airway resistance, and change in methacholine- or exercise-induced bronchospasm.

Most of the studies, regardless of the measure used, reported a bronchodilating effect soon after smoking marijuana, the researchers said.

For example, of the seven studies that measured specific airway conductance, six showed increases of between 8% and 48%. Similarly, of the five that measured FEV1, three showed increases of between 0.15 and 0.25 liters and one showed no effect.

On the other hand, one study measured the effect on specific airway conductance of marijuana use over 47 to 59 days and showed a significant (at P<0.001) decrease over baseline, as well as a decrease in FEV1.

Fourteen studies assessed the impact of long-term marijuana use on pulmonary function, Dr. Tetrault and colleagues said, and the results were mixed.

Overall, however, the studies failed to show a clear association between long-term use and changes in the ratio of FEV1 to forced vital capacity (FVC), in the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), or in airway hyper-reactivity.

The researchers noted that the study quality varied greatly. Many, for example, failed to account for confounding factors such as tobacco or other inhaled drugs, there was no standard measure for drug exposure, and outcome measures were not standardized.

Nevertheless, they concluded, "this review should alert primary care physicians to the potential adverse health outcomes" associated with using marijuana."